


Avatar: The Elements of Chaos

by AnchoredTether



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Airbending & Airbenders, Alternate Timelines, Bigotry & Prejudice, But otherwise this is completely original, Different Storyline, Disturbing Themes, Earthbending & Earthbenders, F/M, Firebending & Firebenders, Graphic Description, Heavy Angst, I've made changes from the original draft so there's elements from LOK, Picks up about 200 years after the end of A:TLA, Post-Avatar: The Last Airbender, Same universe, So think of it as an alternative future from A:TLA, This was written before Korra came out, Waterbending & Waterbenders, dark themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-03-02 23:56:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13329129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnchoredTether/pseuds/AnchoredTether
Summary: Nearly 200 years has passed since Avatar Aang saved the world, and although he restored peace among the nations it did not stay for long. After Aang’s death, the new Avatar born into the water tribe was quickly killed while in the avatar state.Since the Avatar cycle was broken, the world fell apart. The nations became filled with hatred and nature itself perished. Because the Avatar died when from the water tribe, representing the season of winter, the world has been stuck in seasonal dissonance where winter lasts nearly the whole year. With the imbalance of the four seasons and the four nations, devastation constantly lies upon the horizon.Zavital and Yasu, two young air and firebenders, are slaves of project Kanora, a military of benders trained to control the chaos of the world. Zavital encounters the spirit of Avatar Aang who claims to know a way to restore the Avatar cycle. Through his help, Zavital and Yasu strive to bring back the Avatar so the world may once more be restored to full balance.





	1. Tournament

][ -- PROLOGUE -- ][

_I never thought life could be so harsh and cold. So cold that you no longer had hope the sun would warm the earth’s soil and bring forth life. It wasn’t always like this. There was a time in my childhood where the flowers would blossom and the trees would sprout new leaves, and when the world was green and warm with dry, hot sandy beaches and cool waters, and when leaves would change color and fall, crisp breezes would cause them to dance._

_But that life no longer existed._

_Everyone passes down the legend of Avatar Aang, and Avatar Yaka. But I don’t believe they were legends. They were just stories, myths. Avatar Yaka only died 24 years ago, however, I never met him, I never saw him, so who knows he really existed? Who knows if he was actually the Avatar who could bend all the elements? The answer is no one would know. Yaka hid in a cave for a decade because the whole world wanted him dead; if he really was the Avatar, he would have come out of hiding and brought peace to the world, instead of being a coward, running away from his destiny._

_I don’t believe there is any hope left for us. Every day another friend and another family member are found frozen solid in the snow. The likelihood of anyone saving the world is just as likely as winter to melt into spring._

 

][ --[music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHJqAo2yTPg)\-- ][

The rain fell like needles, creating high pitched pings of impact against the gray cobblestone. The concentration camp was littered with deep puddles from dips in the cobblestone walkways and everything was coated in drab grey.

"What do you mean _I'm too young!?_ " A girl shouted over the noise of the rain. She stood in the center of a ring of benders who wore gray armor with insignias from various nations, most of them accented with blue for waterbenders. Several prisoners and guards had crept up to the scene to watch.

"Kanoran soldiers do not go out onto the field until they are twenty-one, that is the rule." a high general spoke, his deep voice calm but resolute. "Despite your arguments, you'll-"

"I'm better than ANY other airbender here! If you _really_ wanted project Kanora to succeed, you'd send me out to help regardless of your illogical _RULES!_ " The girl roared in frustration. "Neither skill nor maturity are determined solely by age." She took a few steps towards the general as the rage in her features calmed. She took a deep inhale and let it out slowly, her tone more calm and serious as her amber eyes stared him down. "Hold a tournament. I'll prove to you that I can beat anyone here."

The general gazed upon the airbender's stare and smirked, amusement showing in his face. "Fine. I shall hold a tournament, with those who are about to turn twenty-one. If you can prove to me that you can beat every one of them, regardless of bending ability, I shall allow you special permission."

The airbender straightened and pulled her shoulders back, nodding respectively in acknowledgment.

"Airbender 473 - state your name." said the general.

"Zavital Kysugi. Air Nomad of Cahnti."

"Well Zavital, we shall see how foolish you really are."

The crowds had greatly increased, a significant number of them being prisoners with spirited faces and undivided attention to the fight scene at hand. A few stood on porches of cabins, looking with worried expressions. Zavital was now fighting her ninth opponent and had only four more to defeat.

"Round Nine: airbender Zavital versus waterbender Keeshi." A guard announced upon a platform overlooking the battle arena.

"Oooh, it's raining, the waterbender's bound to win!" Several voices echoed the excitement of the first waterbender stepping up to fight. Keeshi was beautiful, her deep blue eyes glowed against her dark skin. She gracefully tied back her hair into a swirled bun and positioned herself into a fighting stance. Her expression was calm and deadly.

Zavital never bothered tying her auburn colored hair back despite its length. She was an airbender - she could whisk her hair out of her face with a simple twitch of her finger. She still twisted back the front strands from her face and secured them with a tie, but otherwise allowed her long hair to fall to her hips. She took her stance before the guard announced the start of the fight, then she and Keeshi circled like two tigers ready to strike at any moment, their eyes fixated as the amber glow of a feline's. Keeshi made the first move, stopping the motion of rain drops and forming them into a giant canopy of water. Once the water had accumulated, she forced it down upon the airbender but Zavital forced the water away with a simple gush of wind, eliciting several groans from onlookers of the fight who were now drenched.

"Seriously? You tried to _splash_ me?" She taunted the waterbender, her mouth twisted into a sneer. Keeshi simply glared at Zavital the whole time, making no comment to her snide remarks.

The two girls engaged in hand to hand combat, with the elements in their favor. Keeshi was fluid and versatile in her movements, but Zavital was faster and more agile. Because of her training in airbending and her ability to dodge attacks, Zavital was always one or two steps ahead. After equal amounts of physical pain, Zavital caught Keeshi off guard and hoarded a compacted wall of air against her body. The waterbender fell to the ground with a sickening crack, blood gushing from her head. Surprisingly, Keeshi got back on her feet, using water to help heal her wound. As she stood up, it was clear that the impact of wind would have blown off a layer of skin on her forearms and shins if they weren't covered, since the parts of her face she was unable to block with her arms were now bleeding liberally.

"You like to see blood?" Keeshi growled, the crimson streaming from her mouth. "Fine!"

Keeshi's hand movements became more intense as she bloodbended Zavital to fall upon the ground forcefully several times, which caused her cheek bones to crack open and bleed. Zavital grunted painfully each time she hit the stone earth, feeling that her knees and shoulders were being torn apart and filling with blood beneath the fabric of her uniform. On the fifth impact, she gave forth a spine-chilling scream. Keeshi stopped bloodbending and froze the water around Zavital's ankles as she stood up, keeping her bound.

Crimson marked her cheeks like warpaint and cascaded down her face and all the way down her shirt. Zavital had a deep gouge along her right jawline curving into her face slightly, the flesh raw and dark. Her breath was shuttering, her knees shaking. Not only was the pain affecting her, but being out in the cold rain for so long was causing her to tremble.

"I suggest you forfeit before you regret staying in the fight." Keeshi sneered at the airbender drenched in both rain and blood. Zavital's breath came in heavy gasps, her stance wavering. She unexpectedly waved her arms in large circular motions, bending air in gushes that raced towards her opponent. While doing so, the air cracked the ice that kept her bound.

"You know, I _am_ holding back." Zavital informed the waterbender as she got back on her feet.

"How so? You pretending to be more pathetic than you really are?"

"No…" She panted, her mouth swiveling into a wicked grin. "If I didn't hold back, I'd be disqualified."

Zavital sliced her arm to create a concentrated blade of air. It looked like a giant needle, as long as her arm, containing the ferocity of winds found in a tornado. It was only visible for a split second before she willed it to slam against the cobblestone. The impact was powerful enough to loosen the rocks up, causing them to soar as if some massive object crashed into the ground. One rock in particular hit Keeshi in the head so hard it knocked her unconscious.

After a quick five seconds, the general announced, "Airbender Zavital is the winner of round nine!" Some watchers in the crowd started to clap as a few waterbenders helped carry Keeshi away.

"Wait - general, permission to speak freely?" Zavital asked the man standing upon the observation tower. She didn't even pause to smile at her victory, she only appeared eerily indifferent.

"Permission granted."

"I would like to forfeit the rest of the rounds." After several murmurings from the crowd, she continued calmly between pants, "I've lost too much blood and continuing would be unwise."

The general was silent for a long moment, the crowd still as they awaited his response. "Very well. Because of your good judgment and your exceptionally impressive airbending, I shall allow you to enter the field."

"What? But general, you said that you would only do that if I defeated-"

"Nonetheless I've done what you wanted, have I not?"

"Yes, general."

"Then quit whining, and get back to your cabin and clean yourself up."

"Yes, general."

Zavital strode past the crowd of prisoners and guards, her posture absolute and her expression hard despite her slight limp. She showed no signs of pain from her wounds, leaving the large gash along her jaw open to the rain and cool air despite her desire to hold it with her hand. She entered the water shed and grabbed a bucket, filled it with water from the spout, twisted and rung out her hair as she waited for it to fill, and draped a dingy gray towel over her shoulder. She continued her urgent pace towards a cabin made of hunter green metal with the number 473 upon the door in silver letters. Zavital yanked the door open and slammed it shut behind her so hard that it rebounded and stood ajar.

The airbender set the bucket of water adjacent to one of the beds and sat upon it. She pulled off her arm bracers and then slowly began to peel off the gray outer jacket of her uniform, wincing when she pulled it off her shoulders where the skin was raw and red. Dipping the towel into the water, she carefully squeezed the excess and gently cleaned off all the blood on her body. She softly pressed the now red towel against the open gash on her cheek, hissing at the pain.

Zavital gasped sharply as a boy stepped into the cabin.

"Sorry, about that..." he began, his voice slightly cracking.

"Oh, it's fine. What do you want?" She asked, wincing again at the pain from moving her jaw. She got a better look at him now that he fully stepped into the cabin instead of lingering by the door. He was tall and lanky, but she could tell his arms were sculpted with lean muscle. His uniform told her he was a firebender, and he had warm caramel skin and dark brown hair which was common among the Fire Nation, but his eyes were a mesmerizing shade of blue that Zavital had only seen among waterbenders. It was a strange combination that kept her captivated.

"Oh, well… I saw that you were badly injured, so I ran to the, the, medical office and ... brought you some bandages and a healing water vial." He held up the two items to her, offering a sheepish grin. She was wearing a black tank top and he couldn't help but dart his eyes to the exposed cerulean markings that wrapped around her arms. He had never quite seen the airbender tattoos aside from the arrow visible on airbenders' foreheads.

"… _wow_. That was generous. How the heck did you gain possession of one of those?" She pointed questioningly at the small glass vial in his left hand.

"Let's just say I know my way around the camp."

She narrowed her eyes at him curiously. "What's your name?"

"Yasu. I'm from the Fire Nation."

"Obviously, from your uniform." He had the red insignia wrapped around his biceps, while her uniform had orange accents for Air Nomads. "You were one of the soon-to-be twenty-one year olds. Sorry I never got around to your fight. I'm Zavital."

What kind of girl apologized for not fighting? _This one apparently._ "Haaaaa yeah." Yasu awkwardly placed a hand at the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. "It's probably better you never got to fight me."

Her eyebrows rose. "You a prodigy or something?"

"Oh, no no no, it would just…" He made a strange sound at the back of his throat as he sat down on the bed opposite her. "It'd be a short fight. I'm not that confident of a fighter."

She frowned, tilting her head slightly and then back as if giving a shrug. "Confidence is something you can learn. In time." She closed her eyes a moment, leaning into the cool cloth against her wound as she let out a sigh of exhaustion. "If you're in project Kanora then that means you can wield a higher form of bending. So you should know how to bend lightning, right? I definitely wouldn't do well in a fight against _that._ Or… oh man, don't tell me you know _combustionbending??_ "

Yasu couldn't help the blush that flooded his cheeks, and he let out a nervous laugh. "Oh _noooo_ I can't do anything like that. I'm in Kanora for a different reason, actually."

Zavital merely raised her brows, waiting for him to pick up the cue but he never did. "What reason, exactly?"

He looked completely uncomfortable but her stern gaze did not waver in the slightest. Eventually Yasu sighed and said, "I can control the temperature of my fire."

Her eyes shifted back and forth. "Is that… a difficult feat among firebenders? I have no idea."

"Oh, no worries. Yeah, most firebenders can only control warm colored flames - your usual yellow-orange fire. Even firebenders who have mastered lightning have a hard time making blue fire, but I can."

Zavital perked up, her eyes alight with awe and curiosity. "Wow… can you show me?"

He bit his lower lip, his icy hues shifting away from her gaze. "I can't… I can't summon them on command. They just… kind of happen, in the middle of fighting."

"In the _heat_ of the moment? Haaa, sorry I couldn't help myself."

He laughed, this time not out of awkwardness. "You could say that. What is the requirement for airbenders to be in Kanora, if you don’t mind me asking? I know the higher form of airbending is spiritual projection, but that's hardly useful for what Kanora is looking for."

"Flight is also a higher form, but that's near impossible to achieve." She explained. "They simply look for skill. I think the main qualifier is being able to slice something in half with air alone."

She looked up at Yasu and let out a short laugh. "Really though, a _firebender_ helping a rebellious unappreciative airbender? You have guts. You may find your confidence sooner than you think." She commented, taking the bandages and vial from his open palms. "And thank you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"An expression of gratitude for the kind gesture you granted me."

"No, before that - the, having guts... part..."

"Well, as a general stereotype, firebenders and airbenders don't get along. Aggressive bending art versus pacifist bending art - you get the picture. And well... no one really gets along well with me, because I'm... not like most airbenders. Not like most _people_ , really."

"I guess you could say I'm not like most firebenders then."

"Finally, someone with common interest. How did you come about ... getting this?" She picked up the healing water vial and carefully poured it into her cupped hand. She pressed the water against her cut and held it there for several seconds until it was completely absorbed.

"A friendly place I call the catacombs."

"We have catacombs here?"

"They're actually more like... guard tunnels... aqueducts, kind of... I'm not sure. I just call them the catacombs because they're underground tunnels."

"Neat. How do you access them?"

"I kind of found a loophole. The only way into them is past security, but I have a secret entrance by my cabin." Yasu beamed as if he just discovered the camp's greatest secret. For all Zavital knew, he had.

"Hmm...secret entrance... like a secret tunnel..."

"Exactly!"

Zavital placed a few layers of bandages upon her gash and secured it with medical tape. She grabbed her jacket and placed it in the bucket of water in hopes of washing out the blood.

"What else do you find through your secret tunnels?" she questioned with a curious glance.

"Sometimes I can get a bit of high-quality food."

"Yum! You're going to have to show me how to access _that!!_ "

Yasu laughed softly and smiled. "Well, are you ok? I mean, your wound..." he pointed at the edge of her face.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"That's really weird because it sliced clean open... normally it would be more of an abrasion but it looked more like an incision... I wonder if Keeshi did some waterbending trick or something..."

"It's not a trick. This is an old scar I got a couple years ago, and hitting the ground right there just made it break open again. See, I didn't receive proper stitches for it when I got it... or medicine... so that's why it hurts so badly..."

"Really? That's terrible…"

Zavital was silent and stared at the firebender with a blank but slightly hard expression. Her bright golden eyes glowed like dying embers of a flame when she finally said, "Yeah…" She glanced over to the crack in the door to see light from lanterns passing by. "You ought to report back to your cabin. It's getting dark."

"Right." Yasu got up and walked out onto the porch of the cabin, and swiveled around to bid farewell. "I suppose you'll be training with my regiment now, so… I'll see you around?" he asked, hopeful.

"Probably." Zavital said, her tone mysterious. "Thanks again for the assistance."

"No problem. By the way, who is your roommate? I've noticed they're not here yet..."

"Don't have one." She said sternly.

"Why not? My cabin actually has three people, even though there are only two beds. The guards are always saying there's not enough room for all of us..."

"That's because I've injured my roommates in the past."

Zavital smiled pleasantly and shut the door, leaving Yasu with many questions.


	2. Secret Tunnels

As the morning broke the horizon, the whole camp flooded with red light. A bell sounded throughout the crisp air, and Zavital could hear it clearly within her warm bed. She groaned and turned to her side, slowly opening her honey eyes. "I hate this place."  
  
She reluctantly lifted her worn blankets and rotated her legs to the side of the bed. Slowly standing up, she stretched her limbs and sighed, feeling the soreness of yesterday's fights deep in her bones. She pulled on her uniform and shoes and opened her cabin door to be blinded by the morning sun.  
  
At the breakfast line, Zavital got her usual bland-tasting meal. As she looked for a good place to sit, she noticed a now familiar face among the unhappy campers.  
  
"How's your cut?" Yasu asked as she sat across from him.  
  
"Ugh, thanks for reminding me." She made a face as she realized just speaking was making it ache.  
  
"Oh no I'm sorry! I didn't mean to d-"  
  
"It's alright! I was being sarcastic!... Mostly. Don't take everything I say literally." She muttered with a mouth full of bread.  
  
"Oh. Ok. Sorry."  
  
"And quit apologizing."  
  
"Sor-" Zavital lifted a finger, Yasu's eyes wide. He gave her an awkward smile. "Right."  
  
There was a moment of silence as they both ate their food. She closed her eyes and rested her head back as she tried to stretch out her shoulders. "You know, I've always wondered..." Zavital pondered, "why do they serve us lousy food if they expect us to become stronger and stay healthy? If I was eating relatively healthy food, my injuries could be cured in a matter of days."  
  
"That's true. Well, they probably won't serve us good food because there's so many of us. And we're not paying them any money."  
  
"We're paying them with our _lives_." She sighed heavily, trying to control her anger.  
  
"Well..." Yasu began, "maybe we could put those secret tunnels of mine to good use."  
  
"Really? Show me."  
  
Acting as if both of them were finished eating, the two benders walked casually towards cabin 321. "This is my cabin, by the way." He mentioned. "Follow me."  
  
Checking their surroundings to make sure no one noticed them, Yasu led Zavital behind his cabin where the only thing back there was a gray boulder. He slowly pushed it aside (and she was slightly surprised to see he had the strength to do so), to reveal a square metal plate which he lifted to show a hatch with a wheel handle. He turned it a couple of times and opened the door. "Ladies first?" he offered with a hand gesture.  
  
"Sure, why not?" Zavital jumped into the hole, making a graceful landing with a soft whoosh of air to cushion her assent. She moved out of the way as Yasu came down far less silently. He pulled two strings attached to the hatch and metal plate, concealing them within the tunnel with an echoing thud. Before Zavital could complain how it was now pitch black, Yasu had a flame burning in his hand.  
  
"Oh yeah, you're a firebender. I almost forgot." She laughed softly. "That must come in handy."  
  
"What were you expecting? Me to bring a lantern?!" He laughed along with her.  
  
"Yeah, kind of! I mean, that's what _I_ would have to do." She marveled at the fire that Yasu contained, her eyes glowing not only from the light. She was always awed at the beauty of firebending, how one could handle such a deadly element without getting hurt; waterbending, earthbending, and airbending were all elements that anyone could touch. While fire was untouchable, firebenders proved it wrong.  
  
"Follow me." Yasu broke her from her thoughts, and she followed him down the dark tunnel. They made a couple of turns in silence, except for the sound of their feet in the shallow puddles of water throughout the entire catacombs.  
  
"Does fire ever hurt you?" She asked, curious. "I've always wondered... if firebenders were immune to the burns..."  
  
"Can waterbenders get wet?" His tone was raw and borderline harsh. "Certainly there's a degree of temperature control and some skilled firebenders can will the fire to not hurt them, but… if anything, firebenders get burnt worse than anyone else."  
  
After his last words finished their soft echo through the tunnel, the silence stretched uncomfortably between them. She gazed softly upon him, trying to study the emotion in his face illuminated by amber light. She contemplated what he could have possibly gone through since she could tell just by the tone of his voice that he had a bad history with fire. Her curiosity consumed her mind and she hoped that one day he would tell her the story, but now was not an appropriate time.  
  
"Wait..." Zavital thrust her hand in front of Yasu to stop him. Off in the distance they could hear footsteps approaching. "Quick! Douse your light!" she whispered as she pulled him off from the main tunnel to one that branched away. They continued further into the darkness as they watched the Kanoran guard pass by with faint light from a lantern.  
  
"I don't think he saw us…but we should go this way to be safe." Yasu muttered. He snapped his fingers to summon the small flame once more, and they continued down the tunnels in silence. When they approached an intersection in the catacombs, Yasu sighed.  
  
"I'm not too familiar with this part of the catacombs. I usually take that main tunnel. I don't know which way is to the kitchens..."  
  
"Here, allow me." Zavital stepped into the center of the intersection and faced towards the left tunnel first. She thrust a breeze down each tunnel and waited a few seconds.  
  
"The right tunnel had the shortest duration of noise caused by the breeze, which means the tunnel either ends, or starts to ascend or descend. And if it ascends, we can guess it's leading up to the surface, where the kitchen would be, right?"  
  
"Well, aren't you smart." Yasu smiled at her, his teeth glowing under the firelight.  
  
As they traveled down the right tunnel, it turned out to be the correct way since they could smell a buffet of delicious scents approaching them. Luckily they made it to the door before any more guards interfered. Sneaking off into the pantry, Zavital noticed that hardly anyone was in the kitchen. The only people she saw were two men and a woman cooking by the stoves and arguing. Zavital and Yasu went unnoticed as they grabbed some containers of food from the storage.  
  
After running back to the surface by cabin 321, they sighed in relief. "That was the most amusing thing I've done since I've been forced to live here." She remarked, her face lit up like a child receiving candy.  
  
He smiled and said, "Anytime you want high-quality food, come visit me."  
  
"No... we can't." She let out reluctantly as she opened a jar of peach jam.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"They'll find out eventually. A portion of food missing quite frequently is going to grab their attention. If we only do it on rare occasions, they won't notice because they'll just think they miscalculated or something."  
  
"You worry too much."  
  
"You don't worry enough." Zavital jabbed as she sat down with her back up against his cabin, and began dipping a piece of bread into her newly acquired jam. Yasu sat next to her and they ate side by side for a few minutes before he broke the silence.  
  
"How did you come... to be forced here?" After a moment, he quickly added, "Oh, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. I was just… trying to converse."  
  
Zavital's honey brown eyes met Yasu's crystalline blue. Her eyes softened and shifted towards the ground, empty and lifeless. She considered his offer of not answering, but ultimately decided to cave in.  
  
"I suppose I might as well tell you. I mean… doesn't everyone here have a tragic story to tell? Yours might be even worse than mine. So I might as well tell it." She sighed and paused, reluctant to continue. He had been so kind to her when he had no reason to be, so the least she could do was talk to him as a friend.  
  
"I was brought here almost three years ago. My parents were Air Nomads from the western Air Temple, although the place was invaded when I was young. Seeing the danger I would be in, they decided to live somewhere remote so we wouldn't be found. My father was a legendary airbender - one of the best within the western Air Temple, arguably the world. He figured Project Kanora would want him to work for them. So we lived in Cahnti, a small village at the southwestern tip of the Earth Kingdom. The village has many dangerous cliffs surrounding it, so we figured Kanoran soldiers wouldn't bother trying there.  
  
"Apparently one of the villagers spilled about me. Before we knew it, the village was attacked. The soldiers took us captive and I was separated from my father when he was dropped off in Ba Sing Se. I was brought here, and have been stuck here since." She shoved the rest of her bread into her mouth, and once she was finished she turned to Yasu and asked him in kind.  
  
"What's your story?"  
  
"Oh... I just... you know... was recruited by force." He hesitated, stumbling over his words. "I was taken here when I was twelve."  
  
"You've been here for _nearly a decade??_ For almost _half of your life?!_ " She thought three years was forever. She couldn't even fathom what it was like for the firebender.  
  
Yasu paused, his eyes coldly staring at the ground. He finally spoke, his voice rough and shaky. "My parents... were killed.... By the Bluebloods. Waterbenders and firebenders have always been opposing elements, but ever since the last Avatar was killed… waterbenders have always had the advantage." Although Zavital had never seen them, she had heard of the Bluebloods - a notorious cult of waterbenders who abused their bending to claim superiority over others. "Kanoran soldiers saw me defend myself against them and persuaded me to join. It's not like I had anywhere else to go. It seemed like a good idea at the time."  
  
"I'm sorry, Yasu…" She wasn't good at empathy, and wondered if she was supposed to hug him or something. She closed her jar of jam and set it down, curled her knees towards her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. "I can't possibly know what that's like… but I _do_ miss my family something awful. So I can't even imagine the ache you must be feeling."  
  
His mouth opened to speak, but he hesitated and closed his lips shut. He was saved from continuing the conversation by the siren that wailed through the concentration camp. He turned to Zavital and they locked eyes.  
  
An excitement and dread stirred inside her. "I guess I'll get to see how you fight after all."  
  



	3. Cruel Awakening

][ -- [music](https://youtu.be/2lgoohCsKyc) \-- ][

The camp was overturn with a restless urgency. As the siren continued to wail out its alarm, prisoners and guards alike ran to their posts, orders shouting above the chaos. Yasu ran ahead, leading Zavital towards his regiment.

"Kiet, what's going on?" Yasu asked a fellow firebender as they reached the group of soon-to-be twenty-one year olds. Zavital noticed Keeshi among the group and couldn't help the burning sensation in her chest.

"Attack on Republic City." The firebender named Kiet said. "Sounds like there's multiple organizations this time." His bright amber eyes turned to look at Zavital. "Hey. Welcome to our regiment. I'm Kiet."

"Zavital. Pleasure." There wasn't time for formalities as they were shoved onto a train car and given further instructions from an officer as they sped away on the rails.

"Intel says there's attacks from Ziran's followers, the Anaki, and Bluebloods. Ziran's followers and the Anaki have been known to work together before, but why the Bluebloods have joined is uncertain." The officer announced. "You are to treat each affiliation in the same manner - use force, but take prisoners, not corpses. We will break out into three teams. There needs to be at least one waterbender for every firebender in each team. Waterbenders! Your job is to make sure Bluebloods don't kill your firebender teammates." He assigned five people as leaders to form themselves a team. An earthbender girl quickly snatched up Zavital and Kiet to be on her team, as well as a male waterbender and earthbender.

"Zavital!" The male earthbender greeted her with a grin. "You really kicked my butt yesterday."

She blinked a few times rapidly. "Umm… thanks? You're welcome? I don't know what to say to that."

"I'm excited to see how you do out in the field." The leader earthbender girl said.

"I actually have no idea what to expect." She found herself looking for Yasu, wondering how he would hold up fighting against the organization that killed his parents. He was easy to find with his height, and her stomach churned when she saw how pale he looked, his icy hues staring off into the distance as if he were in a trance. She brought herself back to the task at hand, looking at the leader earthbender. "I know we're supposed to avoid killing anyone. But is there a limit to what we can and cannot bend?"

The girl smiled, her green eyes mysterious. "No. What you would normally be disqualified for at camp, you can use on the field. You can only use extreme measures if the situation calls for it, however."

"Right." Zavital gave a nod. It had been ages since she was able to fight without holding back, and even though she was itching to get out there and wreak some havoc, a part of her was also hesitant. She clutched her hands into fists to keep them from trembling. She regretted the question as soon as it left her mouth, but she couldn't stop herself. "How many people usually die during these kind of attacks?"

"Nervous, airbender?" The waterbender finally spoke.

"Curious." She countered.

"It all depends." Kiet said. "We're pretty good at keeping the casualties to zero on both sides, but this time it's a massive attack. There's already Kanoran regiments out battling the three organizations. We're the backup."

 _Kanoran soldiers needing backup?_ Zavital had never heard of such a thing. As Kiet said, it _was_ three organizations working together this time, and the Bluebloods were infamous for their skill in bloodbending… she had no idea what kind of chaos would rage on the battlefield, and the uncertainty set her nerves on fire.

She had grave expectations on the ride to Republic City, but nothing could prepare her for the mayhem   
within its walls. The train was nearing its stop in the heart of the city but they were expected. She turned her head just in time to see the erecting walls of ice and heard a chorus of shouts before the train completely crashed and derailed.

Zavital awoke with a ringing in her ears, her vision blurry. Everything felt heavy, her movements slow. As her senses came to, she realized she was flung several feet away from the remains of the train. The area was covered in ice and blood, dead and unconscious bodies scattered all over in a haunting stillness. She was bleeding in several places from scrapes and abrasions and she could feel her old wound along her jaw had broken open again beneath the bandages. She slowly stood up just in time to fend off a Blueblood who sent daggers of ice in her direction.

She flung the ice away with a gust of wind, but quickly realized that some of them would harm other Kanoran soldiers still lying on the ground. Her quick reflexes bent the wind to will the ice daggers away from her comrades, but in her distraction she found her hands suddenly stopped. With a gasp of horror as she saw the ice daggers wound several soldiers, some of them screaming as they woke to consciousness, Zavital realized she was being controlled.

A wild snicker of amusement sounded over her shoulder as she trained her golden hues upon the waterbender. "I've never bloodbended an _airbender_ before! I'm curious as to what I can make you do."

Kiet was up on his feet and running towards the Blueblood, sending waves of fire his way. The Blueblood simply bloodbended Zavital to fight for him and she saw the hesitation cross Kiet's face. As he tried to weave around her to attack their enemy, Zavital kept blocking his attacks and sending furious strikes of wind towards her ally. It wasn't as if she had never been bloodbended before - Keeshi had done that just yesterday - but this was different. Instead of simply feeling forced to do something, as if some invisible hand were pulling her to move a certain way, Zavital felt like she was no longer herself, that her body was not her own and she was merely a spectral watcher of the events happening before her. She wondered if that was just a manifestation of greater bloodbending skill. It made her sick to her stomach.

She was powerless. No matter how hard she fought, she couldn't break from the bloodbender's will. At the rate she was being controlled, she was going to severely harm her teammates. A gasp left her lips as her arm lifted, her hand twisted into a very specific bending move. The air around Kiet dissipated, leaving him gasping for breath as she sucked his lifeforce from his very lungs.

Zavital's eyes widened in horror as she saw him fall to his knees and ultimately collapse upon the ground. A sickening crash and scream sounded behind her and instantly she could feel her blood flowing hotly through her veins as her control returned. She whipped her head around to find the earthbender leader of her group had slammed a wall of rock into the Blueblood, pinning him against a building which now displayed an artwork of crimson. Before she could be sickened by the image of death, she ran toward Kiet and fell on her knees to check his vitals.

"He's alive…" She whispered in a sigh of relief, carefully bending the air to gently fill his lungs. "He's alive!" She called over to her leader, but when no response came she turned around to see the girl lying on the ground. A scarlet ribbon cut across her throat, pooling about her lifeless face. Zavital's heart pounded in fear. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs and run from this nightmare of a battlefield, but she was frozen in place with an unconscious firebender at her knees and a stealth assassin nearby.

Her leader was dead. She didn't know her commanding officer. She was just recently thrown into her regiment without any proper transfer. She didn't know anyone's names aside from the unconscious Kiet, and Yasu. She grabbed Kiet by the arms, stood up, and started pulling him towards an alleyway and leaned him up against the wall. She ran back out into the open, her fingers twitching in fear and uncertainty. She could bend air against the three other elements, but how was she supposed to bend against an assassin's blade? As she stayed alert of her surroundings, she realized how _quiet_ it was. Dead or unconscious bodies littered the battlefield, the metallic stench of blood mixed with the crisp cool air. The longer she stood in the silence, the greater her apprehension grew. _The killer has to be nearby. They wouldn't just kill her and leave._ The assassin was playing tricks with her, as was her fear.

"YASU!" She screamed his name into the air, hoping with her entire being that he wasn't dead. She couldn't fight an aggressor and protect Kiet all on her own, especially if more than one enemy showed up.

Before her voice could finish echoing, she felt a shift in the air around her. Whirling around to meet her fate, she was caught off guard with the slice of a knife against her arm before she could even see her enemy's face. As fast as they came, they were gone, and Zavital had no idea if it was a man or a woman, a bender or non-bender. She wished she could harness the earthbending skill of seismic sense to detect the assassin's location, but not even her heightened airbending abilities could detect someone so stealthy.

Summoning her concentrated needles of air, she was able to strike one towards her enemy just before his blade reached her. Precision, but no accuracy. The miniscule tornado tore through the assassin's shoulder, rending flesh and ribbons of blood through the air in grotesque arcs, her remaining needles dissipating into gusts of wind. Hot blood splattered all over her as shock coursed through her body, the adrenaline causing her to barely register the dagger penetrating between her ribs. Only did she understand with widened honey eyes as the blade was removed with a scream, rearing back like a snake ready to strike the fatal blow.

The snake never killed its prey.

Blood splattered her once more, a familiar pair of blue eyes meeting her horrified gaze. The firebender retreated his fiery hand from the cavity of the assassin's chest, allowing the corpse to fall. Zavital stared at the gaping hole, the loosely hanging arm, the scattered sinew, the mess of blood. Her breaths came in quick and heavy, her world spinning out of control as she grasped her open wound and trembled. Warm hands grasped the sides of her face and forced her to look up instead of whipping her head around in a panic. All her frenzied mind could think of was whether his hands were warm from the fire that encased them moments ago, or from the beating heart of the assassin he just rent in two.

"Zavital. _Breathe._ " Yasu's words cut fierce, clearing the fog in her mind. "Focus. You can't lose consciousness. We need to find a safe house so we can heal your wounds before you lose too much blood, do you understand? Can you be strong for just a little longer?"

Her breaths came in faster, her hands trembled at the hot cascade of her wound, her head shaking against Yasu's hands since she couldn't find the voice to reply 'no.' His expression was unreadable, as if his face were chiseled from stone. After a moment of thought, he simply gave a brief nod and replied, "Okay."

The last thing Zavital could remember before her vision blacked out was being scooped up into the firebender's arms.


End file.
